We Were Going to be Sailors
by Lia Faile
Summary: Eden Advance take nautical lessons. Devon gets to know Danziger a little more.


**Author's Notes: This is what I call a "flashbulb" story. It captures a day in the life of the group and its focus is more character based and explores some of the motivations and demons that drive their lives. This story takes place some months after Devon has been revived and cured. (Which thawing version is the reader's choice.) The group has reached the shores of Trumbell Bay.

**"We Were Going To Be Sailors..."**

by

Lia Faile

The huge wave crashed into the hull causing the ship to lurch then list precariously on its side threatening to capsize and dump all on board into the frenzied sea. Danziger tossed his head to get his wet hair out of his eyes. His whole body was focused now on leaning against the wheel rudder to keep the waves from dashing the ship against the rocky outcrops hidden just under the shallow waters by the shore. Shoulder muscles bulging and face taut with effort, the burly man dueled with the vast ocean for command of the ship. Damn! He cursed silently. This storm just blew up out of nowhere! One minute he was enjoying the sun on his back and the wind in his hair watching the tiny white capped waves the ship created as it cut through the emerald waters of Trumbell Bay. The next moment, they're being tossed about like a cork in a tub.

He glanced over his shoulder and guesstimated the distance between the ship and the shore as best he could through the rain and sea spray that battered at him from every direction at once. "BAINES!" His voice had grown hoarse from all the shouting above the creaking of the wooden vessel, the slapping of the water soaked sails against the masts, and the roaring of the storm itself. "Pull hard on the main sail's rigging! We need to head her into the wind!" The young black man did not bother to voice a reply but merely nodded grimly as he tottered his way to the main mast and wound the rope around his forearms. Then grasping it firmly in his hands, he pulled with all the determination of a man who knows the only alternative to his situation is death. When the wind grabbed the sail and pulled him dangerously close to the railing, Magus and Mazatl quickly joined him in his struggle. Ponderously the ship began to turn about and head away from the menacing shoreline. A haggarded yet unconquered smile slowly spread across Danziger's stubbled face. They were going to make it! He took a moment to appraise his crew.

Baines, Magus, and Mazatl were still hauling back on the main sail line with all their collective strength. Walman, Cameron, and Denner swarmed around the vehicles diligently checking and tightening the ropes that held them secure. Julia was on the aft deck helping Bess with a dramatically green and spewing Morgan. If he weren't so occupied with the ship and storm Danziger would be enjoying Morgan's seasickness more. The children were safely ensconce in the quarterdeck. He could see them craning their heads out of the open door smiling and laughing at the chaos that swirled around while Yale silently stood watch behind them. High above them all was Solace. So engrossed in keeping the rigging from fouling itself, he was immune to the swaying mast and gusting wind that sought to throw him from his perch and either drown him in the sea or smash him upon the deck. Danziger wouldn't trade the false security of the slippery deck for the pilot's precarious perch for all the credits on the Stations. Swiveling his head around he scanned the ship for Adair. She was no where in sight. Damn! Where was she?!

Abruptly his visual search for Devon was halted by a loud snapping sound followed by yells of distress and warning. The Transrover had broken free of its lashings. Walman and Cameron were vainly trying to rein it in. Sadly, the two men were no match for the 2 kiloton behemoth. Inexorably it rolled towards the main mast accelerating as it crossed the deck dragging the two men with it. The group grappling with the main sail line were forced to abandon it for safety. John was unable to do anything other than watch helplessly as the huge Hummer slammed into the mast sending a quaking shudder through the entire ship. The cracked mast groaned then gave a human-like scream as it splintered and smashed against the decking before plunging into the roiling sea taking Alonzo with it.

Without the main mast the other sails flopped uselessly like broken bird wings. Danziger had no time to mourn the loss of his friend. Once more he leaned into the wheel rudder trying to force the ship to do his biding without the aid of the sails. His bare feet lost their traction on the wet slippery deck and the wheel flew from his grip. One of the spokes on the wheel caught him under the chin and he fell like an ox to the deck. Sailless and now captianless, the ship became the sea's plaything. The others could nothing more than hang on and pray.

The pelting rain and surf helped Danziger keep from slipping into complete unconsciousness. Working on pure survival instinct, he reached up and reclaimed the whirling wheel. Pulling himself up, he valiantly refused to surrender. They hadn't gotten this far by giving up in the face of insurmountable odds. The ship was perilously close to the shore now. He considered giving the order to abandon ship but no lifeboat or swimmer could survive in this storm. They either rode it out here all together or died all together.

A second set of daintier hands appeared and joined Danziger's on the wheel. Looking up he saw a bedraggled Devon Adair.

"Where have you been?!" He shouted more to be heard than to berate. "We lost the main sail and Solace!"

"Serves him right! He had no business playing pirate like that!" Devon yelled back grunting as the wheel fought them both. "I took Zero to the bow and had him drop the anchor that should keep us from hitting the shore!"

"YOU WHAT?!" Now he was bellowing in outrage. "Devon, you don't drop anchor in the middle of a gale! You head out to open sea and ride it out!"

"Well we weren't heading out to sea! We were going to be smashed on the beach!" She retorted hotly.

"So now we'll be battered to pieces out here by the surf!" Danziger lowered his head to the back of his hand. "We're not going to make it."

Devon's hand wrapped around his other hand and squeezed gently. "You tried your best. No one can say you didn't."

He looked up and held her gaze across the wheel. The fingers of his other hand laced together with hers. They both exchanged a tranquil smile. A huge wave crashed over the deck and the whole world went black.

###

Danziger laid flat on his back on the sugary white shore of Trumbell Bay. He let out a groan as he lifted his right hand to his forehead and pulled off the VR gear.

"Okay Yale. You proved your point. It isn't feasible to sail around the peninsula to New Pacifica even if we had a sea worthy vessel. None of us are experienced sailors."

Groaning even louder his sat up. It might be VR but it was still a work out. Your body reacted to events as if they were really happening so strained muscles weren't uncommon after a particularly strenuous program.

"The point of the exercise wasn't to prove you wrong, John but to give everyone a healthy respect for the ocean." The older man smiled as he spoke in his exotically clipped accent. "Whatever hardships we've dealt with here on land, they will be magnified out on the open ocean. Plus we aren't familiar with any of the possible indigenous aquatic life out there." He added gazing out at the placidly lapping waves.

"Cool! You mean there might be sea monsters?!" Uly asked excitedly with the incautious enthusiasm of a nine year old.

"There are not such things as monsters, Uly." The tutor lectured sagely. "Only the unknown." He stood up and brushed himself off with great care and dignity. "Come children, time for our lessons."

Both True and Uly groaned. The prospect of school becoming even less appealing after such a thrilling morning.

"Can we learn more about ships at least?" True pleaded.

"That would fit nicely in with our history lesson." Yale commented as he herded his pupils back to camp and away from the distracting sight of the seashore.

A grinning Alonzo popped up from behind a dune and sauntered down to the scattered group. "Well, it was interesting but I'll stick to space faring rather than seafaring ones. No storms!"

He plopped down next to Julia and Bess who was clucking like a mother hen over her husband. Morgan was writhing around in the sand clutching his stomach. He rolled over and disgorged the final remains of his breakfast. Baines and Walman made disgusted faces and got up and headed back to camp.

"Alonzo, help Morgan back to his tent for me, okay? I'll get him something for the nausea from the med tent." Julia asked sweetly and batted her eyes in a Bess-like manner. She was quickly learning how to manipulate her lover.

Alonzo's grin turned to a wary frown. He stood up and hauled the groaning Morgan to his feet and hooked Morgan's arm around his shoulders. "Okay, pal. Here's the deal.I help you to your tent. You don't barf on me." Alonzo patted the politician lightly on the chest.

"You're so good to me, Alonzo. A real friend, ya know? Unlike other certain somebodies who will remain nameless." Alonzo jerked his head away at the first whiff of Morgan's rancid breath. He headed for the Martin's tent as quickly as he could get Morgan's watery legs to move. Julia and Bess following on their heels chuckling softly.

By ones or by twos the others who remained on the beach slipped away to take advantage of the free time this holiday provided for that Devon had grudgingly agreed to under threat of mutiny. Finally only Devon and Danziger remained. It looked to Devon as if Danziger was settled down where he was. She watched him idly toy with his gear. A bitter sweet half smile on his lips.

"So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?" She asked conversationally drawing her knees up and hugging them to her chest.

Danziger looked up a little surprised to see her still there. "Don't know." He said shrugging his shoulders. "Might program a small sloop for this sea VR program making sure to take out the storm that Yale snuck in on me and do a little solo sailing."

"I thought you weren't a big fan of VR?" Devon asked trying to keep her voice light and friendly. The wrong word or tone could make John Danziger clam up tighter than a nun's knees.

"I wouldn't outlaw it or anything that extreme. I just think the lure is too seductive sometimes. Why live in the real world with all its problems and troubles when you can create a perfect world in VR?" He replied philosophically.

"I know what you mean." Devon captured a fly-away lock of auburn hair and tucked in behind her ear. "There was this woman I met in the Institute ran by Dr. Vasquez. Her little boy died. She was so grief stricken that she spent a fortune on a VR program of her child. She hardly ever left it. She became obsessed with that VR child and gave up on the outside world. I was so terrified that I would end up that way if anything happened to Uly. I refused to let Yale take VR recordings of him. Only holo-images."

"You're definitely the obsessive type, Devon. But you're obsessive with life not a cheap imitation of it." Danziger assured her. "Look at what you've accomplished. You set out to find a cure for your son and you found one."

"Thanks." Devon felt her cheeks warm slightly at the praise. "It means a lot to me that you think of me that way. What about you? Any VR fears?"

Danziger looked out to sea and seemed to lose interest in the conversation. Devon thought perhaps she had crossed that invisible line that everyone had inside themselves. Leaning back on one elbow he spoke but didn't met her gaze.

"On my first birthday after Elle died some friends got together and treated me to a special personalized VR program at the mall on the Station me and True were living on at the time." Again the bittersweet smile curled the corners of his lips. "I thought it would be a sailing program or an old airplane program. Those were both popular at the time." Here he paused and shook his head ruefully. "But no, my pals went all out. Bought me a sex program." Now he looked up at Devon but she averted her eyes at the mention of the word sex. "Not just any sex program either. The girl was a digitized Elle." Devon's eyes slide back towards his and widen slightly. His voice thickened as he continued. "I flew out of that VR chamber and heaved my guts out for two hours straight. That wasn't my Elle." He whispered blinking rapidly.

Devon hugged her legs tighter in response to the man's painful tale. Her own eyes watering in sympathy. "Sometimes friends do thoughtless things when they really mean well."

"Yeah." Danziger nodded. A dour expression eclipsing the the happier one he'd worn just moments before.

Devon searched for a topic that would bring the happier mood back. "Have you always been interested in sailing?" Ah, that brought a smile back.

"The idea of being a sailor was a boyhood fantasy." He paused then with his eyes closed he began to recite:

"'O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,

Our thoughts are boundless and our souls are free,

Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,

Survey our empire, and behold our home!

These are our realms, no limits to their sway,--

Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey.

Ours the wild life in tumult still to range

From toil to rest, and joy in every change.

O, who can tell? not thou, luxurious slave!

Whose soul would sicken o'er the heaving wave;

Not thou, vain lord of wantonness and ease!

Whom slumber soothes not,--pleasure cannot please...'"

His eyes opened when Devon began to recite the next verse and he listened to her rich voice lovingly give life to the words.

"'O, who can tell save he whose heart hath tried,

And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,

The exulting sense, the pulse's maddening play,

That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way?

That for itself can woo the approaching fight,

And turn what some deem danger to delight;

That seek what cravens shun with more than zeal,

And where the feebler faint can only feel--

Feel to the rising bosom's inmost core,

Its hope awaken and its spirit soar?'"

She finished and opened her eyes and shifted uncomfortable at the intense way that Danziger was staring at her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you didn't strike me as the Byron type."

"Byron? Is that who wrote that?" Danziger shrugged. "Don't make me out some closet romantic. That was in a collection of poetry that Elle had given me once in a vain attempt to broaden my mind. That's the only one that impressed me because it was about the sea and a sense of freedom."

"Well, it looks like she succeeded somewhat if she got you to memorize a poem." Devon chuckled. "Besides, Byron fits you. You're the epitome of the brooding Byronic hero."

"I'm no hero." He replied shaking his head gently. "I'm just a guy trying to make a better life for his kid."

"That counts as a hero in my book." Devon insisted.

Now it was Danziger's turn to blush. And it took all of Devon's willpower not to burst out laughing at the sight of the gruff man turning a delightful shade of pink.

"John...I don't know your plans once we reach New Pacific and the colony ship arrives...." She started hesitantly.

"Well that depends on what the Council plans are. If they're going to declare us all traitors, it'd be suicide for any one to go back." Danziger drawled. His attention once more focused on the VR gear.

Devon reached out and laid her hand gently on his forearm. Startled by the unexpected contact, John looked up into her green eyes. "I hope you stay long enough to take up sailing in the real world. Everyone deserves to have at least one dream to come true in their lives."

"Thanks, Devon. That gives me something to think about. Until that day though, I'm going to take advantage of this top of the line VR gear you spared no expense to get for the colony." He fitted the gear back on his head and flipped the VR eye piece in place and laid back on the sandy beach.

"Say, um...you think there's room enough on that sloop for me?"

"Sure. Permission to come aboard." Danziger invited. "Just remember....here *I'm* the boss. You're the first mate." He threatened jokingly.

"Aye, aye! Captain!" Devon rejoined laughing as she fitted her gear in place and laid on the shore of Trumbell Bay enjoying a peaceful afternoon of sailing with her friend.

End

**For those interested** The poem quoted in the story is "Song of the Rover" by Byron.


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